Contreras' family resolves paperwork, prepares to leave Miami

TIM REYNOLDSAP Sports Writer

Published Thursday, June 24, 2004

MIAMI -- The family of New York Yankees pitcher Jose Contreras resolved a paperwork issue Wednesday and was preparing to leave Miami.

Contreras' wife, Miriam Murillo, and the couple's two daughters, Naylan, 11, and Naylenis, 3, defected to the United States from Cuba on Monday. The group was given immigration forms that should expire June 22, 2005, but a clerical error listed the expiration date as June 22, 2004, said the family's lawyer, Jaime Torres.

The matter was cleared up and new documents were issued late Wednesday afternoon, Torres said.

"All the paperwork is done," said Torres, also Contreras' agent. "They're OK, they're excited and they're trying to get to New York as soon as possible."

The family also had to obtain photo identifications that would allow them to, among other things, meet federal requirements for boarding commercial airline flights.

Contreras, who is not scheduled to pitch again until Saturday at Yankee Stadium against the New York Mets, spent much of Wednesday at the Miami Beach hotel where his family stayed Tuesday night. Torres spent much of the day shuttling his wife and daughters to immigration offices.

"After I explained to them that everything was finalized and they were here legally, everyone was happy," Torres said.

Travel plans were not finalized, Torres said, but he expected the family to reach New York no later than Thursday.

Contreras' family was among a group of 21 Cubans that left Cuba on a 31-foot boat Sunday evening, U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Robert Montemayor said.

The group was captured by U.S. Border Patrol agents on Big Pine Key, about 108 miles southwest of Miami, at 5:15 a.m. Monday, Montemayor said, then transferred into ICE custody early Tuesday morning. Cubans who reach U.S. shores are generally permitted to stay, while those caught at sea usually are taken back.